Fort Lauderdale may ask voters to extend commission terms from three years to four

May 15, 2012|By Larry Barszewski, Sun Sentinel

FORT LAUDERDALE — City commissioners say they will ask voters to change the city's current election laws to save hundreds of thousands of dollars, but they won't have voters add 20 months to their current terms of office.

Commissioners endorsed a plan Tuesday for a referendum that would increase the length of future commission terms without lengthening or shortening their current three-year terms that end in March 2015.

The cost savings — estimated at more than $300,000 for each election cycle — would come from moving city elections to November, eliminating city primaries and increasing commission terms to four years.

The ballot question would have the mayor and commission that is elected in March 2015 serve a three-year-eight-month term until November 2018. After that, the mayor and commissioners would serve four-year terms.

In order to hold a referendum during the November general elections on the convoluted proposal, City Attorney Harry Stewart will have to keep the ballot question to no more than 75 words.

"I think it'll be a challenge, but I think we can do it," Stewart said. "In the sports vernacular, it's no slam dunk."

The proposed charter referendum, which will come before commissioners June 5, was the result of a recommendation from the city's Charter Revision Board.

However, that board's plan was to extend the current terms by 20 months, to November 2016, and then switch to four-year terms. In the alternative, the board suggested the current terms could be cut by four months and new four-year terms start in November 2014.

Even though any change would have to be approved by voters, Mayor Jack Seiler, Vice Mayor Charlotte Rodstdrom and Commissioner Romney Rogers said they were not willing even indirectly to vote to extend their terms of office.